A look at House consumer financial protection bill

Highlights of legislation approved by the House Financial Services Committee to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, or CFPA:

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– The agency would oversee such common financial products as mortgages, credit cards, payday loans and terms on savings accounts.

– It would be in charge of implementing a law passed by Congress this spring that protects consumers from sudden interest rate increases on unpaid credit card balances.

– Most banks and credit unions, already monitored by other regulators for "safety and soundness," would be spared from agency examinations. Only banks with more than $10 billion in assets would need to open their books to CFPA officials.

– Several industries would be exempt from CFPA oversight, including retailers, auto dealers, lawyers and accountants. Gift cards would not be monitored by the agency. Lawmakers said the goal was to regulate financial products, not all financial transactions.

– While retailers would be exempt, financial institutions tied to them would not. For example, the bank that offers a store-brand credit card or the institution that provides financing through an auto dealer would still be subject to agency rules.

– The bill does not include a mandate proposed by the Obama administration that banks offer standardized, "plain vanilla" products such as a 30-year fixed mortgage, as the administration wanted.

– The bill also eliminated an administration proposal to require that banks take reasonable steps to ensure customers understand what they were buying. Democrats said the measure would be too hard to enforce.